1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to a method and system for improving mobile telephones. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system and method for providing a temporary hold feature allowing the receiver additional time to answer an incoming call.
2. Description of the Related Art
Mobile telephones are available to perform a wide variety of tasks. Semiconductor technology has enabled mobile telephone devices to better assist people in their daily activities. Mobile telephones, for example, can not only be used to place telephone calls but can also be used to access the Internet, send and receive email, check stock quotes and sports scores, and act as a personal digital assistant (or PDA). In addition, mobile telephones can be used to call a person almost regardless of where the person is located.
Mobile telephones connect to a telephone network using a wireless connection. Because of their portability, users frequently carry mobile telephones with them throughout their day. In this manner, functions within the mobile telephone are available to the user throughout the day.
Their mobility makes mobile telephones an important piece of equipment. Users often take their mobile telephones with them to the office, in the car, and wherever they might go. Because the caller does not know the recipient""s current location, the caller is unable to ascertain whether the recipient is in a location where answering the mobile telephone call is inappropriate. For example, if the recipient is in a meeting, at church, or in a movie theatre it may be considered highly rude to answer a mobile telephone call and begin a conversation.
Many mobile phones operate in a vibrating mode so that the incoming call does not cause an audible signal, or ring, when received. In addition, many mobile phones provide a caller identification feature so that the phone number and name of the caller is displayed on the mobile phone""s display screen. If a user is waiting for an important call and is in a place where he cannot begin talking, such as while attending a meeting, he can set the phone in xe2x80x9cvibratexe2x80x9d mode and, when he feels the phone vibrate, he can check the caller identification display to determine the identity of the caller. If the user determines that an important call is being received, he often has to hurry to a hallway or other place where he can talk. In the meantime, the voicemail feature of the telephone may have already informed the caller that the recipient is unavailable, or the caller assumed the recipient was unavailable and hung up.
Another way the recipient can handle the important telephone call is by answering the call and whispering to the caller that he is moving to a location where he can talk freely. This second choice presents certain challenges. First, the people in the meeting may still be distracted and feel that the recipient""s actions are rude or otherwise unacceptable. Second, the caller may not be able to hear the recipient""s whisper and determine that he has a bad connection and hang up.
What is needed, therefore, is a way to inform the caller that the recipient will be answering the phone in a short amount of time, thereby preventing the caller from hanging up, preventing voice mail from answering the call, and enabling the recipient to politely move to an appropriate speaking place without unduly disturbing a group of people.
It has been discovered that a xe2x80x9choldxe2x80x9d button can be provided with a mobile telephone. When the recipient notices an incoming call, he can check the caller identification and determine whether the call is important. If the recipient wishes to talk to the caller but cannot talk at the present time, he presses the hold button which causes a message to be read to the caller informing the caller that the recipient will answer the phone shortly. The recipient can then politely and calmly move to a location where he can talk before answering the phone.
Additionally, a hold reminder can be enabled that, after a predetermined amount of time, will notify the user that the caller is waiting on the line. This prevents the recipient from putting a caller on hold and inadvertently forgetting about the call because of discussion taking place at the meeting, sports event, etc.
Furthermore, Bluetooth technology can be enabled to allow automatic holding of certain calls based upon the user""s surroundings. For example, the user may select one or more potential important callers. If the user enters a church, theatre, or museum, a Bluetooth server device may send wireless commands to mobile telephones instructing them to automatically hold calls. The mobile telephone receives the instruction and automatically holds calls if they are from anyone on the list of potential important callers. In this example, when the user enters a movie theatre using Bluetooth technology to instruct mobile phones to hold calls, the hold feature would automatically be invoked. When an important call is received, the recipient""s phone would vibrate and the recipient would see that the important call was being held. The recipient could then leave the theatre and go to the hallway in order to answer the call.
The foregoing is a summary and thus contains, by necessity, simplifications, generalizations, and omissions of detail; consequently, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. Other aspects, inventive features, and advantages of the present invention, as defined solely by the claims, will become apparent in the non-limiting detailed description set forth below.